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First Congressional District of New Mexico
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ask.heather@mail.house.gov

In Washington DC
442 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-6316 Phone
202-225-4975 Fax
In Albuquerque
20 First Plaza NW
Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM
87102
505-346-6781 Phone
505-346-6723 Fax

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Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico


Releases
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Wilson Reacts to Letter from DNI Mike McConnell to House Intelligence Committee February 22, 2008
 
Albuquerque, N.M. – Earlier today, Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell sent a letter to Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. The letter lays out in detail the consequences of House Democrats’ irresponsible decision not to pass the bipartisan Senate FISA bill and to allow the Protect America Act to expire.

Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) today reacted to the letter:

"Admiral McConnell's letter confirms what those of us who work on these programs fear most. Our intelligence has already been degraded. Intelligence is the first line of defense against terrorism. We must close this gap quickly when Congress reconvenes next week,” said Wilson today. 

The letter can be viewed here: http://wilson.house.gov/Media/PDFs/2008-02-22-AG-DNI-LETTER.pdf
 
Key excerpts from the letter:

“Our experience since Congress allowed the Protect America Act to expire without passing the bipartisan Senate bill demonstrates why the Nation is now vulnerable to terrorist attack and other foreign threats. In our letter to Senator Reid on February 5, 2008, we explained that ‘the expiration of authorities in the Protect America Act would plunge crucial intelligence programs into a state of uncertainty which could cause us to delay the gathering of, or simply miss, critical foreign intelligence information.’ That is exactly what has happened since the Protect America Act expired six days ago without enactment of the bipartisan Senate bill. We have lost intelligence information this past week as a direct result of the uncertainty created by Congress’ failure to act.”

“…[T]he broader uncertainty caused by the Act’s expiration will persist unless and until the bipartisan Senate bill is passed. This uncertainty may well continue to cause us to miss information that we otherwise would be collecting.”

“Our experience in the past few days since the expiration of the Act demonstrates that these concerns are neither speculative nor theoretical: allowing the Act to expire without passing the bipartisan Senate bill has had real and negative consequences for our national security. Indeed, this has led directly to a degraded intelligence capability.”

“The Department of Justice and the Intelligence Community are taking the steps we can to try to keep the country safe during this current period of uncertainty. These measures are remedial at best, however, and do not provide the tools our intelligence professionals need to protect the Nation or the certainty needed by our intelligence professionals and our private partners. The Senate passed a strong and balanced bill by an overwhelming and bipartisan margin. That bill would modernize FISA, ensure the future cooperation of the private sector, and guard the civil liberties we value.”

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